Chapter 113: Awakened Tournament Crisis (19)

Outside the domain, the audience was growing restless.

The enormous sphere of ice had completely concealed the battle. The stadium’s displays showed only a pale blue surface, occasionally trembling as muffled impacts reverberated from within.

Nobody could see the fighters.

Nobody knew what was happening.

The announcer tried to maintain his composure.

"As you can see, Sonne has deployed her Ice Domain! For those unfamiliar with the technique, a Domain skill creates a territory in which its user gains tremendous control over the surrounding environment. It can be an overwhelming advantage, especially against opponents who lack a way to counter it!"

He paused as another tremor passed through the sphere.

"However, we’re currently unable to observe the battle taking place inside. We’ll have to wait until the domain—"

A deep, unnatural hum interrupted him.

The sound seemed to come from somewhere beyond the arena.

At first, it was barely audible beneath the crowd’s voices. Then it grew louder, vibrating through the stadium’s reinforced structure and making the lights overhead flicker.

Several Awakened in the audience immediately turned their heads.

"What was that?"

"Did you feel that?"

A strange purple glow began to leak through the seams of Sonne’s domain.

Thin lines appeared across the surface of the ice, spreading outward like cracks in glass.

The announcer stared.

"Wait... what’s happening?"

The glow intensified.

The entire sphere shuddered.

Then, from somewhere deep inside the domain, an enormous pulse of purple Essence erupted.

The explosion swallowed the ice sphere.

A colossal wave of energy burst outward, tearing through the frozen shell and sending enormous chunks of ice flying in every direction. The shockwave slammed into the arena’s protective barriers, causing them to flare brilliantly as they absorbed the impact.

The stadium shook.

For a moment, the entire battlefield vanished behind a blinding cloud of purple light and pulverized ice.

The audience fell silent.

Even the most experienced Awakened in attendance stared at the arena in disbelief.

The explosion had been so sudden, so powerful, that several people instinctively rose from their seats.

The announcer stood frozen at his podium.

He had no idea what to say.

Then the dust began to settle.

Fragments of ice rained across the battlefield, clattering against the reinforced ground. The remaining wisps of purple Essence slowly dissipated, revealing the center of the arena.

A single figure stood there.

Elio.

His silver hair was slightly disheveled, but otherwise, he looked exactly as he had before the domain appeared. His dark clothes remained intact, his whipblade hung loosely at his side, and not a single visible wound marked his body.

His expression was calm.

Almost bored.

A few meters away, Sonne lay motionless on the ground.

Her ice crown had vanished. The frost that had covered her limbs was gone, and her blonde hair was scattered across the cracked battlefield. Blood stained her clothing, and her eyes were closed.

She was unconscious.

The entire fight had lasted less than a minute.

And Elio hadn’t even looked as though he had been forced to try.

For several long seconds, nobody spoke.

Then the stadium exploded.

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"HE DESTROYED THE ENTIRE DOMAIN!"

"SONNE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE A CHANCE!"

"HOW STRONG IS HE?!"

The crowd erupted into an overwhelming roar. People shouted over one another, struggling to make sense of what they had just witnessed. Even the guild representatives who had watched Elio’s previous match with keen interest were visibly stunned.

They had known he was strong.

They hadn’t known he was that strong.

The announcer stared at the arena, his mouth opening and closing before he finally managed to speak.

"I... I can’t believe what we’ve just witnessed!"

He looked toward the medical staff, who were already rushing onto the battlefield to attend to Sonne.

"Elio has defeated Sonne in less than a minute! Despite her immediate activation of Ice Lord’s Soul and her subsequent deployment of Ice Domain, the outcome was... decisive!"

He swallowed, still struggling to recover from the shock.

"The winner of the final semifinal match is... ELIO!"

The stadium erupted once more.

Elio barely reacted.

He simply watched as the medical staff reached Sonne and began assessing her condition. Only after he was satisfied that they had taken over did he turn away.

His gaze rose toward the observation area.

Toward Eden.

Their eyes met across the distance.

Elio’s expression remained composed, but there was something unmistakable in his purple eyes.

Anticipation.

He had finally reached the match he wanted.

The opponent he had been waiting for.

The person whose attention he had been trying to capture ever since the tournament began.

Eden stared back, his silver eyes narrowed slightly.

Then the corner of his mouth lifted.

’Sly Bastard.’

Eden had already begun putting the pieces together before the announcer finished declaring Elio the winner.

The moment the Ice Domain had appeared, he had understood its purpose. Sonne had created an environment where she possessed absolute control, hoping to compensate for the overwhelming difference between their ranks.

It was a sensible decision.

Against most opponents, it would have been.

But she had made one critical mistake.

She had given Elio a place where nobody could see what he was doing.

Eden leaned back in his seat, his fingers resting against his chin.

’You held back against Jax.’

It wasn’t a question.

The conclusion was obvious now.

Elio had fought Jax with enough power to survive his attacks and force him to surrender, but he had avoided revealing too much of his true strength. He had allowed the battle to stretch on, relying on his whipblade, his purple Essence, and his abnormal ability to keep fighting even after suffering devastating injuries.

Perhaps he had been measuring Jax.

Perhaps he had been conserving his strength.

Or perhaps, as Eden suspected, he simply hadn’t wanted to reveal everything he could do in front of the countless people watching the tournament.

Especially Eden.

If Elio revealed too many of his own abilities, he would be giving a dangerous opponent valuable information for free.

But Sonne had unknowingly removed that problem.

Her domain had concealed the entire fight from the outside world.

For the first time since the tournament began, Elio had been able to unleash his power without worrying about who might be watching.

And he had taken full advantage of it.

Eden’s eyes drifted toward the ruined battlefield.

That explosion wasn’t simply a powerful attack. He destroyed the domain from within, and the force was enough to blow the entire structure apart.

He recalled the purple Essence that had coated Elio’s body and weapon during the opening exchange. It had looked almost casual, like an extension of his movements rather than something requiring deliberate effort.

And yet, the moment the domain sealed them away, that same Essence had unleashed enough power to produce an explosion visible across the entire stadium.

How much did he actually hold back against Jax?

Most Awakened could be assessed by their skills, attributes, fighting styles, or some combination of the three. Even when they possessed an unusual ability, there were usually clues that revealed its limitations.

Elio was different.

His purple Essence alone was troublesome enough. The ability to weaken enemies, enhance himself, and seemingly sustain his body beyond its natural limits meant that an ordinary battle of attrition could become increasingly unfavorable with every passing second.

And now Eden had witnessed a glimpse of another level of power.

He couldn’t be certain whether the explosion had come from the purple Essence itself, an entirely separate skill, or some combination of abilities.

Inside his mind, Sylvia spoke.

[That was considerably more powerful than I expected.]

’You and me both.’

[Are you still planning to fight him without using Dark Matter?]

Eden considered the question.

He had refused to use Dark Matter against Lucy because he wanted to test his own abilities against her. It had been a personal choice, not a rule he intended to follow against every opponent.

Elio was an entirely different matter.

’For now. I might reconsider when the time comes.’

Sylvia sighed within his consciousness.

[You really do enjoy making things difficult for yourself.]

’And you enjoy worrying too much.’

He rose from his seat.

Below, medical staff were carrying Sonne away on a stretcher. She remained unconscious, though the healers appeared confident that they could stabilize her condition.

Eden watched her for a moment.

She had known the difference in their ranks. She had understood the danger. And she had still chosen to fight with everything she possessed.

He could respect that.

But the match had also revealed something far more important.

Elio wasn’t simply talented.

He was careful.

That meant Eden couldn’t assume the explosion was everything he had.

In fact, he would be foolish to assume it was.

’Alright, Elio.’

Eden’s smile sharpened.

’You’ve shown me a little of what you can do.’

He turned toward the arena entrance.

’Now it’s my turn to return the favor.’